General Conference Sessions Consolidated

[juliann]

11 minutes ago, rongo said:

My wife is annoyed by this. She doesn't want to have the full Saturday that my sons and I do (two sessions plus a session at the stake center). Yes, we know that we can just watch it at home, but we feel that Priesthood session is special and that we should actually go somewhere, not watch it online at home. So, we go. She feels obligated to go, and actually likes having it be the Saturday before, so it's not crammed with the other sessions. 

She is annoyed, and thinks this is simply a move to make feminists happy (men get one Saturday, women get the other one. Not "second class citizen" -style on the weekend before "real" Conference starts. Equal!).

The reaction to this is crossing ideological boundaries so she is wrong to see it as a concession to feminists. They are just as likely to see it as a loss. I'm going to hope for the best in April by expecting them to have at least 3 more women speaking in the other sessions so we don't lose any of the limited number of talks we already have to use in lessons and such.

 

11 minutes ago, rongo said:

We had three women and girls come sit in priesthood session this time. They are from fanatical "tent city" pyramid scam families (I used to be their bishop when I was in their ward), and were nervous and self-conscious about being there, like they were testing the waters and taking the big step. Nobody said anything, but several looked at them like, "what the heck?"

 Women can't get into the conference center only stake buildings. 

[rongo]

2 minutes ago, juliann said:

 Women can't get into the conference center only stake buildings. 

I wonder if they tried it now if they would be let in. That stalemate happened when there was the microscope of Kate Kelly's agitation. 

You are correct that women can get into a stake conference priesthood session, if they want. I don't think anyone will cause a scene if/when it happens. If it becomes more than a tiny few crackpots, I think that will elicit some response from the Church. 

[Stargazer]

1 hour ago, rongo said:

We had three women and girls come sit in priesthood session this time. They are from fanatical "tent city" pyramid scam families (I used to be their bishop when I was in their ward), and were nervous and self-conscious about being there, like they were testing the waters and taking the big step. Nobody said anything, but several looked at them like, "what the heck?"

What on earth is this fanatical "tent city" pyramid scam?

[Thinking]

3 hours ago, strappinglad said:

You will notice that no matter what, there is always a " concerned critic " .

Or a happy one - one less Saturday night that I lose my wife to the church.

[JAHS]

19 minutes ago, Stargazer said:

What on earth is this fanatical "tent city" pyramid scam?

I did some research on this Mormon myth sometime ago and this is what I found:

The basic idea known as the “tent city doctrine” is that at some point those who are prepared (a year’s supply of food) and willing, will be invited, by the prophet, to go to “places of refuge”/tent city, where they will be preserved from worst of the calamities to come before the Second Coming.  These calamities might be anarchy and roving gangs caused by war and/or natural disasters.  Some have come to believe in the idea of ‘tent cities’ because of dreams they have had personally, or because of listening to the dreams, or near-death experiences of others. There are rumors that the church plans to use the girls’ camp facilities in an emergency as centers for tent cities.
 
One such dream came from a member named Roger K. Young who recorded in his book “Tent Cities in the Last Days?”:
“As a young missionary in Chile in 1973, after a night of being able to preach the gospel to a large group of potential investigators, I was recording in my journal the wonderful opportunity and the spirit that had been present and was still present as I was writing. All of a sudden the veil grew thin and among other things I saw the formation of a tent city near St. George as the people were called to leave the Los Angeles area. I was given to understand several things concerning the event, which I dutifully recorded in my journal. A few years ago, while I was beginning to give firesides and lectures concerning the events of the last days, a number of people began sharing with me their own personal dreams and visions. After a while I started hearing a few of the people describe in their visions & dreams almost exactly the same things that I had seen in my brief vision. I then began to research more into tent encampments or cities, particularly in the last days.”

Another source comes from an article called “Visions of Ranae Lee Regarding World Economic Collapse, and Cataclysms”.  In a vision she describes a great earthquake that hits the Salt Lake valley in the last days:
“But I did see the capital collapse on the south end. Buildings were swaying everywhere. People screaming and running. Liquefaction of the ground all over the Salt Lake valley. Hospitals collapse as well as a lot of other buildings. The spaghetti bowl [I-80 and I-15 interchange] smashes down. The large crack that runs from the North east hills of Salt Lake runs down to Taylorsville, these cracks start at this point but get much bigger in the next earthquake I saw that this first "event" included several weeks of earthquakes and aftershocks. The underground fountains also began to open up at this point. This will effect as far away as the Cascades and make them heat up...the death toll will be staggering. I did see angels guarding some homes and the temples. Most of the money was gone and only the military could help.. I saw rioting, looting and people living in tents.” 

Another source comes from the famous so-called Mormon woman prophet, Julie Rowe, whose prediction dates of various disasters have come and gone without fulfillment:
She writes of the 'tent cities' in which the righteous will live as they await the Second Coming and plans to move herself and her family into one by June 2015 (didn’t happen).
She claims: 
'I was shown various scenes pertaining to life in the camps and elsewhere,' she explains. 'I witnessed my family and others living in these tent cities.
I saw that we were camping year-round and that the circumstances required us to utilize both cool weather and warm weather clothing.“ 
While our Church leaders have often warned us to be prepared with food and other supplies in case of disasters, there has been no specific prophecy or teaching that we would someday find ourselves living in these “tent cities”.

[rockpond]

3 hours ago, strappinglad said:

You will notice that no matter what, there is always a " concerned critic " .

Did I miss something?  Who was the concerned critic?

[bluebell]

51 minutes ago, Stargazer said:

What on earth is this fanatical "tent city" pyramid scam?

Julie Rowe follower. 

[strappinglad]

Nothing like a tent to provide protection from weather ... and clubs...and bullets ... and rioters.

When the first settlers came to my area they spent the first winter in tents , and the temps reached 40 below. There certainly was a flurry of house building the next spring. I wonder why.

Edited October 28, 2017 by strappinglad

[Amulek]

The ladies in my family kind of have a tradition of making the Women's Session something of a spiritual girl's night out, so a couple of them are a little disheartened that they'll only get to do that once a year instead of twice now.

My wife suggested that they just get rid of the priesthood session since talking to a bunch guys is just like talking to a wall anyway. LOL. 

[hope_for_things]

3 hours ago, juliann said:

Trying to visualize Elder Oaks in a wig and costume.....

 

W.W. Phelps would be proud.   

[Rain]

2 hours ago, rockpond said:

Did I miss something?  Who was the concerned critic?

This was on the news board and his reply was soon after the article was posted which had a critic. I'm guessing threads were merged because I understood his response there, but it seemed to be out of place here.

[rongo]

3 hours ago, Stargazer said:

What on earth is this fanatical "tent city" pyramid scam?

There are two families. The one is really into Julie Rowe/Roger K. Young and the tent cities (the faithful will live in tent cities in the calamities of the last days, and the ticket for admission is food and preparedness storage. The Brethren know of and support this movement secretly, but can't be open about this support now. Etc.). They weren't openly into this when I was their bishop, but my successor called me wanting information about the tent city movement after we moved. 

The other family is one of those "never work for the man" families. They are always doing shady pyramid scams that don't involve actual work or a paycheck. Just investors and "marks."

These were the two families represented by the women who came to priesthood session a few weeks ago.

 

[rockpond]

41 minutes ago, Rain said:

This was on the news board and his reply was soon after the article was posted which had a critic. I'm guessing threads were merged because I understood his response there, but it seemed to be out of place here.

Thanks for the explanation.  

I was surprised because this doesn’t seem like a change that would garner a critic.  Except for the fact that it could reduce the women’s voices we hear (I’m hopeful that they’ll bring more sisters into the other sessions).

[The Nehor]

5 hours ago, juliann said:

The reaction to this is crossing ideological boundaries so she is wrong to see it as a concession to feminists. They are just as likely to see it as a loss. I'm going to hope for the best in April by expecting them to have at least 3 more women speaking in the other sessions so we don't lose any of the limited number of talks we already have to use in lessons and such.

While I do not have a strong opinion on the matter I doubt it will increase the number of female speakers. The way conference usually works is all the First Presidency speak twice each (all speak in Priesthood session for one of those), the rest of the apostles speak once each, and each auxiliary presidency and the Presiding Bishopric get one talk each. Everything left goes to the Seventies. If Women's conference stays the same (women speak plus one member of the First Presidency) and that talk counts then the First Presidency will take up more time in other sessions (two more talks). Usually at least two apostles speak in Priesthood so they will have to be shifted to the general sessions too unless they have apostles speak in the women's session. We will probably end up hearing from fewer Seventies in Women's Conference General Conference. The Conference with Priesthood will probably stay mostly the same.

I do think this is a smart move. In my admittedly limited experience Women's Conference is only minimally viewed outside of the United States. Hopefully combining it into the whole series of sessions will emphasize it more and more women (and men) will view it and take it seriously.

Edited October 28, 2017 by The Nehor

[Scott Lloyd]

Does this mean Deseret Book is going to start holding "Men's Night Out" events on Saturday night in connection with October conference?

 

[Scott Lloyd]

7 hours ago, rongo said:

We had three women and girls come sit in priesthood session this time. They are from fanatical "tent city" pyramid scam families (I used to be their bishop when I was in their ward), and were nervous and self-conscious about being there, like they were testing the waters and taking the big step. Nobody said anything, but several looked at them like, "what the heck?"

I don't approve of anybody -- women or men -- using our worship services and meetings as a platform to make political statements. They should have been barred from the gathering, as the OW group was barred from the priesthood session originating in the Conference Center.

[Scott Lloyd]

How things change!

When I was a boy, they had not just two, but three days of general conference, from Friday through Sunday.

Later, they worked in a welfare session early Sunday morning in addition to the two general sessions of that day.

And there was always an MIA (forerunner to Young Men/Young Women) conference in Salt Lake City in June.

And I think they had a general Sunday School conference at one point.

Edited October 28, 2017 by Scott Lloyd

[Calm]

27 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

I don't approve of anybody -- women or men -- using our worship services and meetings as a platform to make political statements. They should have been barred from the gathering, as the OW group was barred from the priesthood session originating in the Conference Center.

The Church instructed any woman  was to be allowed to attend anywhere but the convention center,  would you have local leaders make up their own rules?

[Scott Lloyd]

10 minutes ago, Calm said:

The Church instructed any woman  was to be allowed to attend anywhere but the convention center,  would you have local leaders make up their own rules?

I wasn't aware until now of such an instruction being issued by the Church.

And instruction or not, I still disapprove in principle of people using Church gatherings to make political statements.

On the matter of local leaders making up their own rules, some of them seem with impunity to do that already to some extent, such as the bishop who banned electronic devices at sacrament meeting.

 

Edited October 28, 2017 by Scott Lloyd

[Stargazer]

7 hours ago, JAHS said:

I did some research on this Mormon myth sometime ago and this is what I found:

One such dream came from a member named Roger K. Young ...

</ snip>
 

Oh, wonderful.

Thanks for the info.

[Avatar4321]

I understand the move but I'm kind of disappointed that we will have less priesthood sessions

[Avatar4321]

8 hours ago, rongo said:

There are two families. The one is really into Julie Rowe/Roger K. Young and the tent cities (the faithful will live in tent cities in the calamities of the last days, and the ticket for admission is food and preparedness storage. The Brethren know of and support this movement secretly, but can't be open about this support now. Etc.). They weren't openly into this when I was their bishop, but my successor called me wanting information about the tent city movement after we moved. 

The other family is one of those "never work for the man" families. They are always doing shady pyramid scams that don't involve actual work or a paycheck. Just investors and "marks."

These were the two families represented by the women who came to priesthood session a few weeks ago.

 

How do you know what the brethren know and secretly support?

[Amulek]

5 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

Does this mean Deseret Book is going to start holding "Men's Night Out" events on Saturday night in connection with October conference?

I think Leatherby’s would be more appropriate. 

[Scott Lloyd]

1 hour ago, Avatar4321 said:

How do you know what the brethren know and secretly support?

I think Rongo is only summarizing what the Julie Rowe/Roger K. young devotees believe. I don’t think he  means to say he believes it himself. 

[Scott Lloyd]

59 minutes ago, Amulek said:

I think Leatherby’s would be more appropriate. 

My favorite ice cream place, Farr’s in City Creek, where I would take my boys after we attended the priesthood session in the Conference Center, went out of business this year. 

And I learn here that they are canceling one of the two semi-annual priesthood sessions. 

And my boys have grown older and are no longer interested in coming downtown to attend the session with me, especially now that they can view it at home on TV. 

And now I can no longer get priesthood session tickets anyway. 

One by one, my beloved customs and traditions have been wrenched away from me.